Kickin' it Veggie Style

I totally missed my friend Julie this weekend –she was doing her own sightseeing in NYC. Either way, Amber and I had our plan B. Read on y’all!

On Friday night I took the subway to meet Amber up at work so that we could go to dinner at Gobo. Our reservations were at 6PM and we had to hurry to make them. In a rare occurrence we actually made it about 30 minutes early! Gobo is a gourmet vegetarian style restaurant that bases the experience on the five senses -taste, touch, see, hear, and smell. I had gone there the night before to scope out the menu and the service; obviously, I was very impressed. On my scoping out mission I tried an appetizer of ‘steamed spinach dumplings’. It was delicious!

Returning back to Friday: Amber started off with the ‘vietnamese spring rolls with spicy honey dip’ and I had the ‘pine nut vegetable medley with lettuce wraps’. Amber’s was a lighter version of the traditional spring roll that we all know and love. The appetizer that I had was more in line with the lettuce wraps at P.F Chang’s. By the time dinner had rolled around we were already kind of full but we kept going anyway. The combination of our appetizers was already a meal in itself. The main course consisted of ‘sesame protein braised in sweet & sour sauce’ for Amber and ‘ginger glazed shitake & konnyaku on steamed greens’ for myself. Of course we shared our plates… yum! My selection tasted better than hers. Sorry babe!

After dinner we went to check out Rooftop Films (http://www.rooftopfilms.com). Each weekend they have the show in different locations in the NYC boroughs. This past Friday’s showing, ‘All is far: Romantic Short Films’, was at the former Seward Park High School (350 Grand St - L.E.S.). It was a unique mixture for different viewing tastes. Script writing in some of the shorts were Kimya Dawson-esk (remember Juno?) minus the speed but with all of the witt. Some of the concepts were a little bit more disjointed abstract then I like, but the overall experience was well worth it.

To learn more about the former Seward Park High School project go to http://rooftoplegends2007.blogspot.com. You will be impressed with what they have done with this location. It’s a total case of taking a lemon and making Lemonade.

Saturday was a blast too. Much to our delight DDT came over! We showed her around our neighborhood which we have been simply dying to do. She was probably getting sick of hearing us RAVE about our hood so she had to come and see it for herself. The tour was nothing huge. We did a loop down Dekalb touching on Fort Greene, hooking a left on South Portland then Fulton, cleverly navigating a route past our wine shop destination-of-choice Olivino. After the little walk we were famished so we tried yet another new restaurant in our hood called Red Bamboo. (www.redbamboobrooklyn.com/). Just like Friday night this was another unique take on (the terrifying and sometimes adventurous) the concept of vegetarian victuals. On this particular evening I had Buffalo Wings (veggie style) and then to top it off I had the Pork ribs (veggie style of course!) For me they didn’t taste anything like the real white meat but both dishes were tasty none-the-less.

Before I even get started on Sunday's festivities I would like to be the rhetoric and ask this: What is it with Sunday and torrential downpour????? It was raining cats and dogs (and then some) for a very large portion of the day. It has been like this for the last few weeks now. I mean come on!

This past Sunday’s brunch adventure was at Jane, which is located at 100 West Houston. Service was almost instant and we even got our food in a decent manner despite the fact that the restaurant was packed. The waiter, with his extremely intelligent English accent, opened with, “Can I offer you some sparkling, tapped or bottled water?” We went for the sparkling tap water. We started with a “side” of French toast that was actually an entrée. For our actual entrées, Amber ordered the ‘Salmon Scramble’ and I ordered the ‘Mushroom Omelette’. Both meals were delicious and both resulted in a debilitating food comma. The French Toast wasn’t nearly as good as ‘202’. Just ask Amber. GO, 202, JUMP ON IT! Check them out at http://www.ctrnyc.com/JANE/index.html.

To get rid of our food comas we went to check out ‘Sunday Best!’ In Brooklyn. Every Sunday they have a different act at this location that is literally rocks and leaves. On this particular day they were kicking it old skool with Afrika Bambaattaa. I am a total new comer to A.B. but I can tell you that I am now a fan. One song that you all may know is called Planet Rock (circa 1982). I think that they are on iTunes. Amber was dancing up a storm. She seemed to know every song and sample that was played along with the moves that go along with them. The crowd was unpretentious - not at all like the experience in other venues here in NYC. It’s worth checking out more than once. Check the schedule out at http://www.sundaybestnyc.com/.

A quote: There's a message in my cereal. It says, "Oooooooo..." -Peter Griffin

Back From the Dead

I have to give props to the Apple Genius Bar. All of those issues that I was having with my iPod could not be resolved on the the spot so you know what they did? They gave me a brand spankin' new one complete with the software upgrade (unfortunately not iPhone 2.0 -for that I have to wait until sometime in July) on the spot. I must have done something really nice in a previous life.

I have 38 days, 18 hours and 24 minutes until my GMAT.

Meatball Mountain!

Finally! After 2-years of battling it out with the environmental organizations, Brooklyn finally has an Ikea! Yes, Brooklyn is now complete. Later on this summer I am going to go make the pilgrimage to Redhook. I will go shopping. I will park my car in one of those Ikea sized parking spots. I will have an all mystery meat Ikea dog. I will have the world famous mountain of Ikea meatballs with the plastic style gravy. I will buy stuff that I will never use. I will not go there without at least buying something. Yes! I will buy some candles!

But first...

Today I have to go to the Apple store as all of a sudden my iPod Touch is acting like a fool. It is now sluggish, it overheats, and the screen even locks up to the point that I have to let it run down before I can do anything. This last glitch has occurred twice in the last week and quite frankly it's annoying. I have an appointment with an Apple Genius. Another glitch: while I am using the unit the back light will turn off so I am barely able to see the screen. It had better be fixed today...grrrrr. Anyway, I must be heading off uptown now. It's my appointment and then I have my GMAT preparatory class.

I have 39 days 17 hours and 13 minutes until my GMAT.

Row Boats and French Toast

This past Saturday Amber and I went to the Adventure NYC event with some of her Sternie friends Nagina and Ibrahim. We went there thinking it would be all hardcore for the adults. But we missed the small print where it said fun for the whole family. Needless to say, the kiddies were everywhere. I think that the most exciting part was when the partition fell onto the side of the water slide enclosure and spilled water everywhere.

Despite the fact that the activities were a wash (yuck yuck!) the displays were awesome. We entered into some drawings for gear and we even got some free shwag. There were also trampoline demonstrations. The tricks were great.

After all of that we headed deeper into Central Park down to the boat house. Guys - if you want to wow your lady - take her down to the boat house and rent a row boat. Now I have to say something. PEOPLE LEARN HOW TO ROW! There were boats everywhere. It seems like the people who were watching out (i.e. Amber and I) are the magnets for the people who are watching for everything but other boaters. Hell those people will even hit a bridge and they’re stationary. It was bump, bump, and then even more bump everywhere we went. It's a deal for a mere $12.

After about an hour of boating we went off in search of some grub. The first place that we tried was an Italian restaurant on 2^nd Ave called Mediterraneo Restaurant on Second Ave between 66th & 67th. Talk about pretentious. It was like they were doing us a favor by allowing us to eat there. It all started with Amber cutting her leg on the raggedy wicker chair while being seated. It was bleeding pretty badly so she went into the restaurant to get something to clean herself off with only to discover that they didn’t have a first aid kit. No Band-Aids and not even alcohol scrubs to clean the cut with. It turns out that a customer had to help her with an alcohol scrub AND the Band-Aid. Now here’s my question: What happens if a cook in the kitchen cuts himself? Next: did I mention the small print on the menu? It actually says that there is a "$20.00 minimum per person". Afraid that a fountain drink would be $10 (like the appetizers!) my fiancé asked the waiter how much a coke costs. The answer that we got was a sleazy, “I don’t know…I’ve never thought about it…$3.50…I guess…maybe…I’ll give you another 2-minutes, “ and then he walks off even though we were ready to order. Right now I’m thinking about something that starts with euro and ends with trash. Needless to say we left. It was a good glass of water at least. DO NOT EAT HERE.

We ended up at the Silver Star Restaurant, which was about a block up. That place was solid. First: the menu is huge. Second: the staff is attentive. Third: they make a mean Bison Burger. Fourth: a soft drink drink only cost $2. The only down part was they dropped the lower part of Amber’s hamburger bun on the ground but fixed the problem x2. It is a unique eatery consisting of a wide range of Greek and American style food. It’s a NYC gem. DO EAT HERE.

After that Nagina and Ibrahim parted ways and Amber and I headed back into Central Park to check out out Vampire Weekend and Kid Sister. We finally got to the line only to find out that they were over capacity. Also it started to rain cats and dogs but, honestly, the people who didn’t get into the show were the lucky ones. Outside of the music venue it was a regular beach party. Beach blankets were out and beach balls were bouncing. The foreigners were selling beer out of
their backpacks. The frat boys, In their best A&F outfits, were pounding the beers and flexing on the ladies. The young college coeds were sporting their latest H&M swimwear purchases. The Woodstock wannabe/leftovers were hangin’ and smokin’. We were loving the sheer diversity of the atmosphere. When it started raining we were the umbrella. Everyone else was crowding underneath the trees. We eventually decided to head home. We were going to head out again that night but the weather was not cooperating and we decided to stay in and watch a movie.

The next thing we knew it was Sunday morning and 10:00 AM. Are we getting old? No. Not yet. We were only enjoying doing nothing.

It was Sunday and Amber and I have a ritual where we try brunch at a different location every weekend. This past weekend’s site was down in the meatpacking district was called ‘202’. They had an article that said that they had the best French toast in NYC. We arrived there at about 1:00 PM in the afternoon and by 2:00 PM we were seated and waiting to order. What an ordeal that this was. The first problem was getting water, which we did not get that until we asked for it. Luckily we were able to order pretty quickly. Amber ordered the French Toast and, after a lot of debate, I settled on the Goat Cheese and Spinach Omelet. Our appetizer came in about 10-minutes and it was tasty. After that we didn’t see any food at all. I have to admit though that they did a great job with making sure that everyone who came in after us had their food and even got their bill in a timely fashion. After about 45-minutes, and a few complaints, an order of food was brought to our table. It turns out that it was for the table behind us. Good stuff. After that the Manager named Maurizio had to step in and I must admit that he got it done…almost. He had food out to us within 5-minutes. Amber’s was fine but mine was cold. In the end I ended up telling them to forget about it and I ended up sharing in on Amber’s food. In the end the meal ended up not costing us a nickel and the New Yorker Mag was absolutely correct. ‘202’ has the best French Toast in NYC. Amber and I do plan on giving ‘202’ a second try because they did fix the problem (though we’re not exactly sure why it happened in the first place). Well done and thanks, Maurizio!

I saw the Hulk today. All I gotta say is this: HULK SMASH!

I have 42 days, 7 hours and 14 minutes until my GMAT.

Vampire Sisters

Currently I am sitting in Tillie's on Dekalb enjoying an Americano. There is a guy across the street sitting on the newspaper drop-off box drinking out of a 1 gallon fruit punch container. Young hipster families and couples are walking by as the pigeons duke it out over the sustenance offered by the sidewalks.

In a few hours I will be going to the Adventures NYC event in Central Park. It is a day of adventure sports in the park consisting of climbing, kayaking, canoing as well as obstacle courses -just to mention a few. There'll also be a whole hump load of displays and demos there. The day time hours will be wrapped up by a Vampire Weekend/Kid Sister concert. Vampire Weekend is one of those cleverly named alterna-pop bands -they're a mix of The Decemberists and The Shins. Kid Sister of something akin to Lil Mama (does anyone understand her when she talks?) and Fergie - but Kid actually has her own beats.

I have 43 days, 21 hours and 10 minutes until my GMAT.